Vaginal brachytherapy cuts mortality in early uterine cancer
(HealthDay)—For women along with surgically staged IA or IB endometrial adenocarcinoma, use of vaginal brachytherapy (VB) is associated with a reduction in mortality, according to a study published online August. 10 in Cancer.
Related Posts:ASCO develops recommendations for invasive cervical…New study links drinking behaviors along with mortalityEORTC-ETOP study opens on pembrolizumab designed for…Low FODMAP diet cuts irritable bowel syndrome symptomsFox Chase trial tests promising therapy in early breast…The post Vaginal brachytherapy cuts mortality in early uterine cancer appeared first on My Irrit...
Source: My Irritable Bowel Syndrome Story - August 16, 2016 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Ken Tags: IBS News Source Type: blogs
Genetic Testing
So if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, there is a strong chance you have one of the two BRCA genes. And now if you have BRCA1, there is a significantly increased risk of uterine cancer - 22 times higher in a recent small study.I read that and said 'wow!'. I am somewhat surprised this was never figured out before.Earlier this week I was talking with a friend and she was tested for BRCA back in the early 2000's when the testing was just starting. She told me that the testing is now done differently as technology has changed. And the test now includes several other genes including ones for colon cancer. ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 2, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: coping genetic testing Source Type: blogs
Lessons learned from constipation
Here’s an excerpt from Wheat Belly Total Health about constipation. As uninteresting as it can seem at first glance, constipation can offer useful insights into diet and health, but not simple-minded insights like “get more fiber.”
A condition as pedestrian as constipation serves to perfectly illustrate many of the ways in which grains mess with normal body functions, as well as just how wrong conventional “solutions” can stray, Keystone Kops of health stumbling, fumbling, and bumping into each other, but never quite putting out the fire. Drop a rock from the top of a building and it predictabl...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - June 21, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle bowel health cellulose constipation fiber grains prebiotic Source Type: blogs
A story that showed me how cancer is a social disease
Young women get gynecologic cancers, and I have had my share of conversations about ovarian cancers with women in their 20s and 30s. It rarely happens, but when it does, it is devastating. I make it a point to talk with them about their present and their future; although it is something I try to do with all of my patients regardless of age, it is somewhat more important that I do it when my patients are young. Yet, even with all of my experience gained through years of practice, I was not prepared for Lyn*.
I had read her chart before we met. I knew she was only 16, diagnosed with a rare ovarian germ cell tumor. She had ha...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 23, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Don S. Dizon, MD Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs
Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List
Editor’s note: “Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List” is a monthly roundup where we share some of the most compelling health care narratives driving the news and conversation in recent weeks.
Stunting The Growth Of Children With Disabilities
Parents of children with severe disabilities concerned about being able to physically care for their children as they grow up are finding hope in a treatment known as “growth-attenuation therapy,” but questions about the ethics of the therapy, and a lack of long-term outcomes data, mire the treatment in controversy.
In The New York Times Magazine, Genevieve Field tells the...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - March 30, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Jessica Bylander Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Narrative Matters autism heart disease On Our Reading List Source Type: blogs
There They Go Again - the New England Medical Journal Publishes another Rant, this Time about Power Morcellation
In 2015, we noted (here and here) that the New England Journal of Medicine seemed to have been reduced to publishing rants about "pharmascolds" who are paranoid about conflicts of interest. Now there they go again.... BackgroundThe sad story about the risks of power morcellation for the treatment of fibroids has received considerable media attention. The state of play through July, 2014 was described in a series of articles in the Cancer Letter of July 4, 2014. (Look here.) Uterine fibroids are a common affliction of women. Their preferred surgical management had changed from open surgery to minimally invasive ...
Source: Health Care Renewal - March 20, 2016 Category: Health Management Tags: cancer FDA logical fallacies New England Journal of Medicine Partners Healthcare Source Type: blogs
Planned Parenthood And Fetal Tissue Sale: Manufactured Controversy And The Real Ethical Debate
Editor’s note: This post is part of a Health Affairs Blog Symposium on Health Law stemming from 4th Annual Health Law Year in P/Review conference hosted by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Holly Fernandez Lynch wrote an introductory post in January 2016 and you can access a full list of symposium pieces here or by clicking on the “The Health Law Year in P/Review” tag at the bottom of any symposium post. You can also watch the video of the presentation on which this post is based.
In 2013 the Center for Medical Progress appeared to have secured tax...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - March 9, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: I. Glenn Cohen Tags: Equity and Disparities Quality Bioethics center for medical progress fetal tissue donation Planned Parenthood The Health Law Year in P/Review Source Type: blogs
The Deadly Disease You Don’t Hear Enough About
Ovarian cancer is always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
At weddings, there’s a reason we focus on the bride. It’s her big event. She’s the center of attention, and rightly so. But sometimes, the bridesmaid’s speech has more to tell us — and we should listen.
We hear a lot about breast cancer. It affects a quarter of a million women and is fatal 15 to 20 percent of the time. Breast cancer is a serious and important disease that merits the time, money, and resources we spend on funding and public awareness each year.
But what do you know about ovarian cancer, a disease with a fatality rate of 65 to 70 percent? Fo...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 16, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Access Cancer Women Veterans Source Type: blogs
Health Information Technology: A Guide to Study Design For the Perplexed
This study, which was widely reported in the news media and influenced policy, found significant differences in the rate of flu-related deaths and hospitalizations among the vaccinated elderly compared with their unvaccinated peers. Although it controlled for certain easy-to-measure differences between the 2 groups, such as age, sex, and diabetes, it did not account for other more difficult-to-measure “healthy user” factors that affect the well-being of the elderly, such as their socioeconomic status, diet, exercise, and adherence to medical treatments and advice.
The cohort design has long been a staple in studies of...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 13, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Treating Menopausal Vaginal Dryness
Sex is supposed to be fun, and it’s definitely not supposed to hurt.
But one of the consequences of menopause is vaginal dryness, which for many women means painful sex.
With the loss of ovarian estrogen, vaginal walls that were once elastic, expandable, supple and sturdy can, over time, become tightened and fragile. The vaginal walls can become as thin as tissue paper, unable to withstand the manipulation that occurs with sexual activity, and can tear and even bleed with intercourse.
“Use it or lose it”
When sex becomes painful, the natural response is to begin to avoid intercourse. But without continued sexual acti...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - August 2, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Menopause painful sex sex hurts vaginal atrophy vaginal dryness Source Type: blogs
A patient this oncologist can’t forget
She was so young — only 32 when diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She had given birth to a son only four months earlier and by all rights should have been celebrating being a new mother. But, instead, she had developed acute pelvic pain, undergone emergent removal of her uterus and ovaries, and was now in my office to discuss treatment.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 1, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Don S. Dizon, MD Tags: Physician Cancer Source Type: blogs
Weighing the Risks of Hormone Therapy
The post below originally ran on Huffington Post’s Healthy Living blog on February 19. To see the original post click here.
For over a decade, hormone therapy (HT) has been a hot topic in medicine. Unfortunately, women are still confused and concerned about using HT after two federally-funded studies linked HT to potentially serious health risks. Even decades after these studies, information on HT is seriously muddied, and not much is still fully known or understood about the treatment. It’s time to clear up the confusion and debunk the false reports surrounding its risks.
HT is used to primarily treat menopaus...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - April 28, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Aging Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Endo Awareness
March is endometriosis awareness month. According the CDC, endometriosis occurs “when the kind of tissue that normally lines the uterus grows somewhere else”. In other words your uterine lining can grow on ovaries, it can wrap around your intestines and in some cases on parts of the body nowhere near the female reproductive organs, like in a few rare cases the lungs. As serious as this sounds, unfortunately, many people have heard more about ovarian cancer (which is very serious) than endometriosis. I, however, have known about this disease and the havoc it can wreak for my entire life.
Growing up I used to pra...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 16, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Removing the Fallopian Tubes to Prevent Ovarian Cancer – Something to Consider
New information strongly suggests that most ovarian cancers originate, not in the ovary, but in the fallopian tube. If this is so, then removal of the fallopian tubes may actually prevent ovarian cancer.
The evidence is powerful enough that the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists is now recommending that fallopian tube removal be considered in women planning to undergo surgical sterilization or hysterectomy.
The Fallopian Tube Origin of Ovarian Cancer
We used to think that ovarian cancer originated in the peritoneal lining that covers the ovaries and abdominal organs. But the fallopian tube origin of ova...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - January 23, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Best of TBTAM Family Planning Ovarian Cancer Essure Fallopian tube oophorectomy prophylactic salpingectomy Sterilization Tie my tuibes tubal ligation Tubes Source Type: blogs
When cancer comes to call you, rise up and fight the good fight
A patient story tonight, from Jackie:
It was one of those days. I had been to the gynecologist the week prior because I somehow knew the sporadic bleeding, which I had experienced, was not a simple urinary tract infection for which I had been treated three times. My doctor did the scrapings and biopsies and had me run down the hall for an ultrasound. I’d had lots of ultrasounds during my pregnancies — especially with my twins — but this one wasn’t fun. There was no cute baby to smile at. This time it was a transvaginal ultrasound which involved the insertion of a rather large tube into “...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 13, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Miranda Fielding, MD Tags: Patient Cancer OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
